Multiple questions about diet (hay, pellets, treats, wood, etc)

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Pencheff

New member
Joined
Oct 14, 2016
Messages
3
Hello everyone,

I would first like the entire community for their awesome collection of knowledge and advise - it has helped us greatly in the last 2 years!

I want to apologize in advance for the big post, but I would rather ask everything that is bothering me in 1 place :)

So my little furry sunshine is called Loki, son of Odin (no joke, his dad's name is Odin) and he is 3 years old (pic below). I will try to categorize my questions, say what I do and welcome any advice related to that, whether it is to continue, to stop, to change.

Loki has malocclusion since he was 1.5 years old (doctor said it's genetic) so we try to best to make his life as pleasant as possible before the sad day comes. So questions in this context:

Primary food - since the only thing available in Bulgaria seems to be Versele-Laga, Beaphar, Padovan, JR Farm, Vitakraft and Mifuma, we have settled for Versele-Laga Chinchilla Complete as the seemingly best option, confirmed by our vet. We mix it with Beaphar Xtra Vital (seeds, raisins and corn flakes removed) at a rate of about 10:1 in favor of the pellets. As mentioned, any advise is more than welcome.

Hay - he has not been eating any hay in the last 2 years :\ I've tried about 4 local brands of Timothy hay, a couple of "branded" ones (like Versele-Laga and Beaphar) but he ignores every single one of those. Today I found that the pet shop next buy has stock of Alfalfa Hay, so I got it, gave him some - he is a lot more interested in it - destroys the leaves and shows moderate to high interest in the branches. So now I have 2 options - only pellets, or pellets+alfalfa hay. From what I've heard Alfalfa causes issues (if at all) in the very long run, while I consider him not filing his teeth relatively short term. So would you consider Alfalfa better than no hay? If yes, how much should I give him? All he can eat or a specific amount? Every day or X times a week? Just to be sure I didn't get lost in translation, this is what I got and google translate + a couple of dictionaries claim it's Alfalfa:

http://imgur.com/a/Y6llm

Treats - tiny raisins or rolled oats mostly, occasionally dried rose hips. Used to give him dried herbs, but he no longer likes them :( Last year my friend moved into the mountains and he has nice apple trees in his yard, so I got some twigs, baked them according to online manuals and, oh surprise - Loki destroys them. And by destroy I mean bites of the baked bark within a minute and breaks 2-3mm diameter twigs in half within a day. Question here is - should I provide him an unlimited amount of twigs or should those be portioned in any way?

Thanks in advance for all the answers. Here is a picture of him begging for his treat after playtime :D (Ears are naturally spotted, that stuff visible behind him on the right is not rusty, just FYI)

http://imgur.com/a/2JkNm
 
P.S Just some addition regarding the malocclusion - he is getting his teeth filed every 6 months and has been great after his second one - started eating normally right after surgery, took his painkillers and other meds on his own. Current weight is 580 grams.
 
I can't really help on the food, I don't know those brands, so hopefully someone else can chime in. The normal idea is that if you go with a timothy hay based food, go with alfalfa hay, if you go with a alfalfa hay go with timothy. Free feeding alfalfa hay seems to be debated, some have had issues, others feed it all the time with no problems. Since the chin wont eat other hay but will eat the alfalfa I would just offer that as unlimited hay for him. You don't have to stick with timothy hay, any grass hay is good (alfalfa is a legume like beans not a grass). Yes alfalfa is definitely better then not eating hay at all, being a legume it's higher in protein and calcium, so it can cause issues, but not as big of issues as not grinding down the molars by not eating hay at all.

Chew sticks should be unlimited too, my guys get about half a dozen new sticks a day. That is in addition to all their chew toys, perches, and shelves in the cage. They always need to be chewing, so make sure he has things he likes at all times.

Raisins are really not good for chins, they are too high in sugar, high sugar snacks can lead to diabetes, kidney failure, and tooth decay, among other issues. Oats should also be limited to a few a week, but the rose hips can be given up to one everyday.

He is cute, and the spots are freckles, very common on beige chins especially as they get older.
 
Hey Amethyst,

thanks for the reply! Will definitely follow up on cutting down the oats and raisins and switch them out with herbs. What I can get and trust the quality to not be sprayed:

Dandelion Root, dried (Herb shop)
Basil (grown by a friend on his balcony)
Hibiscus Flower (mom's balcony)
Rose hips (organic grown)

Anything critical I'm missing or any advise on those?
 
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